


Benched

by Pandorascube



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Other, Pepper-Up Potion, Quidditch, Slytherin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25594261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandorascube/pseuds/Pandorascube
Summary: Zabini and Warrington share a locker room chat.
Kudos: 8
Collections: Half-Blood Prince Drabble Elimination Challenge





	Benched

Blaise Zabini slumped onto a bench in the Slytherin locker room with a groan, rubbing his throat to soothe the discomfort he’d been battling. “Pull it together, mate,” he grumbled to himself, suppressing a chill.

“What seems to be the problem, Zabini?” Blaise gave a start at the familiar, sleazy voice of Cassius Warrington. The tall, pale Chaser leaned in the doorway to the showers.

“Cassius! We’ve talked about the skulking. For someone so large, you’re surprisingly stealthy. We need to bell you, git.” Blaise gave a weak smile and rose with a wheeze to face his teammate. 

“You’re here early. Excited for the last game of the season?” Cassius smirked.

“You mean excited to watch it from the bench rather than the stands?” Blaise’s frown was interrupted by a dizzying cough.

“You alright, mate?” 

“Just a cold. It doesn’t really matter anyway; it’s not like I’ll play today.” Blaise signed dejectedly.

“But you’re still here early? Wow, is this the stoic, disdainful Blaise Zabini actually caring about something. So you’re not entirely an aloof prick.”

“Sorry that I’m not interested in your Inquisitorial Squads or Next-Gen Death Eater support groups.” Blaise scoffed, fishing a neatly folded handkerchief from his pocket. “Even in Italy Quidditch is like breathing. Muggles have their obsession with food and wine, but wizards; it’s all Quidditch—” Blaise was interrupted by in another coughing fit. “And wine. Don’t look at me like that; I’m fine,” he rasped defensively at Cassius’s obvious skepticism. 

“That would have been more convincing if you didn’t sound like Mrs. Norris hacking up a furball. Should I keep my distance or is this some Curse of the Bogies?” The older Slytherin asked with a sharp chuckle. 

“I’m not cursed, I’ll shake it off. Some time on a broom will clear the fog.” Blaise smiled weakly. “I can’t believe wizards haven’t found a better cure for the common cold. I can’t stand Pepper-up and if I go to Madam Pomfrey, she’ll send me back to bed. I need to be here to make a good impression. How else am I going to replace you next year?”

“You know, you could try something other than flying in a questionable condition.”

“Worried about me, Warrington? I’ve tried hot tea, hot showers, and excessive amounts of water.” Blaise tried to stifle a sneeze.

“I have some Pepper-Up.” Cassius gestured toward his locker. He grabbed a box from the top shelf and turned to face his teammate. Cassius muttered something softly, the nondescript box snapped open, and trays of potions, pills, and powders floated out.

“Undetectable Extension?”

“I have no idea. My father gave it to me for my first year.” Warrington gestured some trays to the side and beckoned a deep, potion-filled one forward. “Pepper-Up!”

“I think the professors will notice if I take Pepper-Up,” Zabini scoffed.

“What? Why?” Cassius tilted his head.

“Zaccaria Innocenti, you’re dense!” Blaise guffawed.

“Who?”

“The wizard who accidentally caused Mt. Vesuvius— Look, you probably should the side effects of what you’re pushing. Pepper-Up causes steam to come out of your ears.”

“I mean— Well. How long?”

“Hours, you dolt.” Blaise sniffed in half disdain and half nasal drainage.

“Is there a way to avoid that?” Cassius scrunched up his face in confusion and increasing anger.

“Yeah, you don’t take the potion,” Zabini snarked.

“Fuck you, Zabini. You’re not better than me just because you know some potion ingredients.” Warrington stepped menacingly closer, his tall and stocky frame dwarfing Blaise’s thinner and slightly shorter countenance. “Your name certainly isn’t in the Sacred Twenty-Eight. You may be a pureblood but how many generations back until we find some muggle trash?”

“Neither is Warrington”

“My mother was an Avery!”

“Half of Sacred Twenty-Eight! So that makes you a Moderately Special Fourteen, maybe?”

“You have a pair of bludgers on you,” Warrington growled, as Blaise coldly met his eyes. “Quick wit may get you far in Slytherin, but it may also get you a beating.”

A coughing fit interrupted their standoff, Blaise doubling over and Cassius stumbling backward quickly. 

“Just take the fucking Pepper-up!” Warrington tossed the potion at his counterpart and gestured for the floating trays to return to the box. “Steam in your ears can’t be worse than this. I think you coughed in my mouth.”

Blaise caught the potion easily. “If you weren’t looming threateningly over me, the cough would never have been near you. Didn’t you learn anything from that flaky skin rash earlier this year? Magic is a great equalizer, maybe? Brawn can’t compete with well-applied brains?”

“Just take the potion. We can cover up the steam. Maybe add some Hair-Raising Potion to distract from it—

“Steam coming out of my ears and my hair discombobulated?” 

“Or a Befuddlement Draught? That heats the brain—”

“And creates recklessness—”

“You never know—”

“I will not be your test subject!” Blaise grunted in frustration and spiked the Pepper-up onto the stone floor of the locker room.

The two wizards gasped as steam erupted from the shattered vial and began enveloping both of them. Blaise felt the vapors enter his lungs and simultaneously relieve him of the stuffiness in his nose. The heaviness and congestion began to evaporate all through his sinuses and respiratory system. Cassius landed on all fours on the floor, coughing and sneezing uncontrollably. Blaise smiled and breathed deep through his now functioning nose.

“Zabini!” Cassius choked out. “Fix this!”

“Interesting.” Zabini circled the debilitated Warrington. “So the vapors of Pepper-up evoke an onset of cold symptoms in the uninfected.” 

“This is the worst cold ever.” Warrington groaned and curled into a ball. 

Blaise lifted his hands to his ear. “None of the characteristic steam! Has no one ever administered this potion through vapor? This is amazing.”

“I hate you so much.” Cassius moaned between wracking coughs. “There’s no way I can play like this. Call Pomfrey!”

“I suppose I won’t be on the bench this game then?” Blaise allowed himself a satisfied laugh. “Smarter even when I’m not trying.”


End file.
